Book of Mormon

José Almerich (left) with my uncle Matthew Stevens (right) circa 1973–1976. This account was written by my mother Jill Stevens Smoot. The following transcription has standardized and corrected some grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This is the true story of José Almerich. From 1973–1976 my father, Robert V. Stevens, along with his wife Sue Stevens and their … Read more

Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones (2016) At a church conference on October 25–26, 1831, the topic of the translation of the Book of Mormon arose and Joseph Smith was pressed to furnish the details pertaining thereto. According to the minutes taken at the conference, “Br. Joseph Smith jr. said that it was not intended to tell … Read more

Not long ago I posted a few thoughts on the improbable battle numbers reported in the Book of Mormon. In response to my post, some offered very interesting thoughts on the interplay between archaeology, history, and the critical reading of ancient sources. Others, however, were not so nuanced. Over at the ex-Mormon Subreddit, for instance, … Read more

I Even Remain Alone by Walter Rane. An easy target for critics of the Book of Mormon is its reported army sizes and battle casualties. The final extermination of the Nephites, for instance, reportedly involved tens of thousands of combatants and hundreds of thousands of combatant and non-combatant casualties (Mormon 6:11–15). This pales in comparison to … Read more

When I was in junior high school I attended a performance of Annie Get Your Gun that was put on by a nearby high school. I vividly remember the number “Anything You Can Do” because the actress playing Annie Oakley broke or sprained her ankle in the middle of the performance (she badly misstepped during … Read more

The title page of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. Last summer there was a bit of an online tussle between Philip Jenkins, a professor of history at Baylor University, and a number of Mormon commenters (including William Hamblin, a retired professor of history at Brigham Young University) on the topic of what … Read more

“And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children” (2 Nephi 11:2). Nephi’s effusive love for Isaiah is well-known to readers of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, … Read more

Yours truly with Professor Neal Rappleye, deciphering a Maya stele that reads, “I, Nephi, made this stele.” Speaking of the lack of direct archaeological verification for an Israelite exodus from Egypt, James K. Hoffmeier, an American Egyptologist who has written extensively on the historicity of the Exodus, remarked, There are several possible reasons for this … Read more

“How should you read the Book of Mormon?” It’s a question that is often asked by both lay and scholarly readers of the foundational scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But instead of asking this, another, arguably more interesting question would be, “How does the Book of Mormon read itself?” This … Read more

Mormon and Moroni by Joseph Brickey. “There is reason to believe that the story of Israel’s ancestors (Gen. 12–50), though understood in the light of later experiences, reflects to some degree the cultural background of the millennium starting with Hammurabi’s reign (second millennium B.C.E.).” So states Bernhard W. Anderson in his volume Understanding the Old … Read more

A popular, if not highly imaginative, depiction of Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the Nephites. In his “Letter to a CES Director,” Jeremy Runnells claims that the story of Samuel the righteous Lamanite preaching repentance to the apostate Nephites in Helaman 13–16 demonstrates Joseph Smith was guilty of plagiarizing Ethan Smith’s book View of the Hebrews. (On … Read more

By the Gift and Power of God (2014) by Anthony Sweat Not long ago I posted a note from Michael McKay and Gerrit Dirkmaat on why the gold plates were necessary despite Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon by revelatory means. Here is a follow-up by McKay and Dirkmaat published just this month. With … Read more